2p Hetalia: Episode 23,5
by BambixRonno
Summary: They've been there for days, and there's nothing left, and when there's nothing left, people tend to get desperate. That's why Lutz and Kuro have finally decided how they're going to survive - by sacrificing Luciano. 2p version of Episode 23.5


**Oh look, another fanfic that no one asked for! And for a new fandom, this time! Why can't I update my current fanfics if I can upload a new one, you ask? Because... because...**

 **I have no excuse. I just really, really like the 2ps. Half because they're really interesting to work with, half because their lack of canon personalities give me an excuse to get away with OOCness.**

 **Honestly, this fanfic probably wouldn't exist if not for the lack of 2p versions of Episode 23.5. A crime that, naturally, I wanted to contribute to fixing. Although if the original creator ever releases her own 2p version of 23.5, I more or less guarantee that hers will be better. So... yeah. Have a self indulgent fanfic that I decided to upload.**

 **Oh yeah, and there's two passing mentions of some headcanons I have. Explanations for those will be at the end**

 **Disclaimer: Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya, and Hetalia: Episode 23.5 belongs to KyoKyo866, not me**

The waves crashing against the shore was the only sound that they had heard for the past two hours now. Lutz shifted slightly and tried to get into a more comfortable position, but his attempt was in vain. Even he could only sleep so much, and he was far too awake to go back to sleep any time soon. Even with the sky rapidly becoming darker, he couldn't sleep.

Kuro sat a few feet away, shirtless and nose buried in a book that he had somehow managed to get onto the island. Lutz didn't ask about the odd language or the questionable pictures that would inevitably be printed on each page. He didn't want to know.

Luciano had been gone for hours, out in a pitiful attempt to find more food for them. The nearby trees had stopped growing fruit, and the fish had stopped gathering near their camp. None of them had eaten for five days, and they were incredibly lucky that the Allies hadn't attacked them during that time.

A small grumble broke the silence, and Lutz pressed a hand against his stomach, whining pitifully. Kuro sighed and put down his book. "Hungry?"

Lutz nodded.

"Me too."

Lutz scooted closer to Kuro. "Luciano's been gone for quite a while now. Do you think he's okay?"

"He'll be fine, Lutz. You know what he's like."

"But it's getting dark." Lutz protested. "And he hasn't eaten lately, either. What if he got ambushed? What if he's lost and can't find his way back? What if he passed out from hunger?"

Kuro rolled his eyes but patted Lutz reassuringly on the back nonetheless. "He's fine, Lutz. He'll be back soon."

Lutz didn't look reassured but he fell silent anyway, resting his head on Kuro's shoulder. The Japanese nation sighed again. "You wouldn't be sat here worrying if he had just listened to me. I told him there's no point in going out looking for food."

"He has to." Lutz pointed out. "We could be attacked by the Allies any day now, and if we don't have any food then we won't stand a chance."

"We barely stand a chance as it is." Kuro growled. "Think about it! How many times has a fight against the Allies on this damn island actually gone in our favour? We keep getting knocked out by Xiao's frying pan - and dear god, I don't even know where he keeps it - and when he's done it's always Luciano left standing. They already outnumber us five to three; it would be six to three if Matt was here! Even Luciano doesn't stand a chance against all of them on his own. And that's when he's at full strength."

"We don't have a choice but to fight." Lutz protested. "We can't just give in! I know that it's not the same as it was during the World War, but we still can't afford to lose. Otherwise our countries will be in trouble, and then our people really _will_ want a war."

Kuro clicked his tongue in annoyance. "We can't do anything if we're starving on an island. We might as well give in, if only for now. The only hope we would have of finding food is if we snuck closer to the Allies' camp to see how they're managing, and even that's too risky."

Lutz whined again. "We have to do something! We need to be strong enough to help Luciano fend them off. Even he's starting to get weakened by his hunger. I can tell."

Kuro opened his mouth, a sharp comeback already on the tip of his tongue, but then a thought flickered in his mind and his words died on his lips. Lutz sensed his change in demeanour and shifted nervously. "Kuro..."

"I've got it. Lets eat Luciano."

"WHAT?!"

"SHH!" Kuro hissed sharply, covering Lutz's mouth with his hand. His eyes darted to the trees nearby, but there was no sign of their fiery Italian leader. Kuro dropped his hand.

"Are you crazy? We can't eat Luciano." Lutz whispered. "He's our leader."

"And he's responsible for making sure anyone under his control survives. Even if that means sacrificing someone."

"Kuro..."

"Think about it." Kuro's words came faster, almost desperately, but he kept his voice down just in case. "Whenever the Allies attack, we're always the first to fight back and the first to get knocked down. Like you said, we need to be strong enough to protect Luciano. And what if he has the same idea as us? What if he decides to eat one of us so that he and the other one can live? How do you know he won't go for you?"

"... He's still our leader." Lutz mumbled. "It would make more sense for one of us to be eaten instead of him."

Kuro raised an eyebrow. "And which one of us would that be? _I'm_ certainly not going to do it."

"I would." Lutz offered, although Kuro could see the terror in his eyes at the thought of it.

"No, that wouldn't be any use. You're a good fighter, Luciano needs you. Besides, there's only three of us, and out of the two that do the most fighting, he isn't one of them."

"He plans our attacks though. He helps keep us fighting."

"And he can help us keep fighting in a different way this time."

Lutz deflated slightly, and Kuro's eyes softened in sympathy. "Look, I know you respect him. I don't want to do this, either. Luciano's an arrogant asshole, but like you said, he's still our leader, and we're both still loyal to him. But we don't have much of a choice. We're going to have to betray his trust to make sure we all get out of this without our countries paying the price. Or would you rather suffer another attack from the Allies and wake up to find Luciano in their hands while we can do nothing about it because we're too weak?"

Lutz shook his head, but he still seemed reluctant. Kuro's mind worked sharply. "Look, I've got a plan, alright? If everything goes right, he won't even know what happened. You won't have to lose his trust."

Lutz took a deep breath. "O-okay. What's your plan?"

...

Luciano returned an hour later. Kuro and Lutz craned their necks eagerly, but just as they suspected, Luciano was empty handed.

"I've searched all along the west of here. Still nothing, although I suspect the Allies may be taking food from there as well." Luciano sighed, sitting down next to them. Lutz had already started a fire, and Luciano silently revelled in the heat of it. "I'll check the east tomorrow. Perhaps I missed something."

No reply from either of his allies. Luciano frowned as he took in their demeanor. They looked downcast, almost upset, as they stared blankly into the fire. They looked almost... hopeless.

"Hey..." Luciano shifted closer to them. "We'll find something, okay? Tomorrow's another day."

Kuro scoffed. "You're not usually one for optimism, Luciano."

"You're not really giving me a choice. If neither of you two will be positive, then that means I have to be." Luciano paused for a moment, sighing when he got no response. "Look, I'm not going to let either of you starve to death here, if that's what you're worried about. You're not useful if you're dead."

Lutz chuckled slightly, and the corner of Luciano's mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly.

"I'll have another look around in the morning." Luciano promised. His voice was softer than they were used to, a reassuring tone that they had never heard directed towards anyone. "I've got a good feeling about tomorrow. Just hold out until then, okay?"

Wordlessly, Lutz and Kuro nodded. Luciano rose an eyebrow at their strange behaviour but brushed it off. Both of them were always prone to acting odd when they were hungry, and none of them had gone this long without food for a long time.

"You two should go to sleep. I'll keep watch." Luciano leaned back in preparation when Lutz spoke up.

"Actually, Luciano, we've been thinking... maybe we should keep watch tonight?"

Luciano gave them a blank look. "You two? Keep watch? Do you think I've forgotten what happened the last time I let you two keep watch?"

"Yeah, yeah, we know. Lutz falls asleep and I get distracted easily." Kuro rolled his eyes. "But you've been staying up all night to keep watch since we got here. Surely even you must be tired by now."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. The bags under your eyes are even worse than usual."

Lutz intervened before Luciano could reply with a snarky comeback and start a fight. "What Kuro means is that you seem tired lately. We're worried about you." He ignored Kuro's defensive grumble. "Out of all of us, you need to be in the best condition. You are our leader, after all."

"Just for tonight, Luciano." Kuro compromised. "Lutz and I will take turns, and I'll take the first watch so that he doesn't fall asleep." He took a deep breath. "You've been working pretty hard lately to find us food. You deserve this, at least."

Luciano stayed silent for a moment, looking at them carefully. "Okay." He finally agreed. "But only for tonight."

Luciano lowered himself into the soft sand, magenta eyes watching as Lutz did the same. Out of the corner of his eye Luciano saw Kuro get comfortable in preparation for his watch, but his eyes were soon drawn back to the warm fire. With a small yawn Luciano curled in on himself, closing his eyes. He _was_ rather tired, and the fire was so warm and comforting.

For a moment he hesitated. Was he making the right decision, refusing to tell his allies - no, his _friends -_ about the China Town he had found?

Of course he was. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't going to tell them at all. He was just withholding information for a little bit. If he told them now, they would want to run off and find it immediately, when all they needed was some sleep.

Tomorrow, Luciano decided as he settled down. Tomorrow he'd wake up early to go and "search" for food, and then he'd come back and tell them about how he had stumbled across a China Town belonging to Xiao. It might piss Kuro off a little, since he hated accepting help from his former caretaker, but what other choice did they have? It was that or starve to death, and Xiao didn't really care who was buying from him so long as he got his money from it.

Tomorrow... he'd tell them tomorrow...

...

It took far too long for Luciano to fall asleep. At least, far too long for their liking. The Italian had never been one to fall asleep quickly, and anyone who actually knew him also knew that he had more than a little trouble with relaxing enough to fall into a deep enough sleep to dream. It was just so fortunate for them that Luciano trusted them to the extend needed for him to let his guard down enough to fall asleep, instead of dozing like most nations were used to seeing him do.

Kuro waited for a few extra minutes just to make sure that Luciano was definitely asleep, then he nudged Lutz with his foot and stood up. It wasn't necessary; Lutz was already awake, far too nervous to sleep when all he could think about was what they were about to do.

Silently the two crept over to Luciano, careful not to wake him up. He was still curled up, hands near his face like he was prepared to protect himself from an incoming attack. One arm was ever so slightly higher than the other, as if he was still asleep at home with a knife under his pillow for emergency self defence.

Taking a deep breath, Lutz picked him up. He felt Luciano begin to stir, but Kuro gently pressed the pressure point on the back of his neck and Luciano slipped back into unconsciousness. Without a word the two carried Luciano over to the water, Kuro holding his arms out as Lutz rolled Luciano slightly so that he was face down. They couldn't gently lay him in the water, or he'd wake up immediately. He'd never been a very deep sleeper.

Kuro and Lutz exchanged a glance, eyes full of regret. With a small nod from Kuro they slowly lowered Luciano, and when he was just above the surface Kuro shoved his head down into the water.

The effect was immediate. Luciano jolted and started to thrash wildly in their hold, legs kicking and arms flailing in an attempt to get his attackers off of him. Lutz held his body down to make sure that neither of them got hit, while Kuro focused on keeping his head below the water. Bubbles rose rapidly to the surface, and Kuro had to close his eyes so that he wouldn't see them. He was sure that if either of them put an ear under the water, they'd be able to hear Luciano screaming.

Luciano _never_ screamed.

It felt like they were holding him there forever. Luciano was strong and a fighter; it took both of their strength combined to keep him down and both of them couldn't help but wish that Luciano would give up. But he didn't. He kept thrashing and wriggling to free himself, refusing to give in and accept his fate, until finally, _finally_ , he went limp and his limbs fell back down into the water with a plop.

They kept him there for another minute or two, just to make sure, before they finally pulled him up and dragged him to the fire. The bright light only made them feel worse about the blue tint to Luciano's face.

It was a little bit of a struggle to actually expose Luciano's skin; even on a scorching island, he refused to show off more skin than he could help. Although his usual military jacket and tie had been discarded, his shirt still remained, and the water made it difficult to pry off. Eventually Kuro gave up and just left the shirt on, undoing the buttons and leaving it open enough to expose his torso.

Kuro pulled his katana out of its sheath, pressing the blade against the base of Luciano's neck, trying to avoid touching the now cold flesh. He was about to dig the sword in when Lutz spoke up for the first time, breaking the silence. "Do we have to do it like this? Can't we just take some of his skin and eat that? Skin regenerates faster."

Kuro glanced up at Lutz. "If we take some of his skin, the scar will be too obvious. He'll figure out what we did in less than a minute."

"We'll take it from his back, then." Lutz tried to compromise. "He can't see his back."

"We can't even get his shirt off. And even if we did do that, his brother would be sure to notice."

Lutz whimpered, desperately scrambling for alternatives. "But... but _this_ will scar as well. And there's no way he won't notice it."

"We can say that one of the Allies did it to him in his sleep." Kuro said. "It's not uncommon to kill a nation with that kind of slash, and as far as he's concerned, we'll have no reason to lie."

"But-"

"We don't have a choice, Lutz." Kuro reminded him. He waited for further protest, but when he received none, he dug his katana into Luciano's skin and dragged the blade downwards, stopping at his bellybutton. Discarding the sword, he pulled back the skin on either side of the cut, revealing the bloody organs inside. He heard Lutz retch at the sight and he himself had to take a moment to breathe, reminding himself why they were doing this. Gathering his courage, he slid his hand into Luciano's body, desperately ignoring the sickening squelch as he pulled out Luciano's stomach. He picked up his katana once again and poked a hole in it, letting the acid leak out.

"What was the point in that?"

Kuro glanced at Lutz, who had spared a single look at what he was doing before turning away again, and set the stomach aside on his cape.

"We can wrap some of his other organs in his stomach." Kuro explained slowly. "I heard from Oliver that his brother does something similar with a sheep's heart, lungs and stomach."

Lutz turned slightly green, and Kuro rushed to calm him. "We won't be taking Luciano's lungs or heart. It would take him too long to regenerate if we did that. But it will help with some of his other organs. Perhaps his kidneys, or his bladder, or his-"

"Stop." Lutz choked out. "Please, just - just stop talking about his organs and how we're going to eat them."

Kuro blinked. "But that's exactly what we're doing."

"I know. I _know_. But I can't..." Lutz squeezed his eyes shut. "Please, just... stop talking about it. Stop talking about him like he's some kind of animal we have to gut."

Kuro nodded silently, not that Lutz could see him, and quietly went back to work. This time he pulled out a single kidney, severing the bloody strand that tied it to Luciano's body. He set it aside next to the stomach. Next he pulled out the larger intestine, cutting it into smaller pieces so it would be easier to eat, and threw the pieces at Lutz. "Start cooking."

Lutz gagged again but obeyed, reaching for one of the sharpened sticks he had gathered earlier with a shaking hand. It took him a few tries to successfully pierce some of the intestine pieces onto the first stick, which he set over the fire to cook. Kuro watched with a blank face as Lutz worked on the second stick, not wanting to go back into the bloody mess of Luciano's corpse any earlier than he had to.

It felt like forever and yet not long enough for Lutz to pull the sticks away from the fire and hand one to Kuro, who accepted it without a word. They exchanged a glance and slowly bit into the intestine pieces, pulling them off of the stick. Lutz whimpered as he chewed, forcing himself to swallow.

"Don't you fucking dare spit it out." Kuro threatened, although he was having a hard time keeping it down as well. "We did not go through this for Luciano to question the intestine strands in the sand when he wakes up."

Lutz whimpered again and reluctantly took another bite, screwing his eyes shut as if it would block out the reality of what he was doing. He took a moment to gather the strength to swallow, and another moment to remember how to breathe. Kuro gave him a sympathetic look.

"Try pretending it's from a pig." He suggested. Lutz opened one eye.

"Why a pig?"

"I don't know. It's just... you eat pigs all the time, right? It might make you feel a little better."

Lutz reluctantly nodded, and the two returned to eating in silence. Lutz kept his eyes shut, occasionally murmuring to himself "it's just pig, it's just pig..." while Kuro stared determinedly into the fire and refused to think about what he was doing or who he was eating. That's the only way he could possibly do this. Without thinking.

A small groan caught Kuro's attention, and he glared at Lutz. "Don't you dare throw up."

Lutz froze, staring at him with wide eyes. Kuro raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"That... that wasn't you?"

"No, of course it wasn't. Why would it be-" Kuro cut himself off, realisation slowly dawning on him. "You... that wasn't... you didn't..."

"Hnn..."

Kuro's heart stopped. Slowly he and Lutz turned towards Luciano... who was starting to stir.

"Hng... Lutz? Kuro?" Luciano opened his eyes and turned his head towards them, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that? What's going - ow!" Instinctively he pressed a hand against his chest, hissing when the pain got worse. He removed his hand, eyes widening as he took in the blood dripping down it. "Wha... why is my hand..." Slowly, his gaze drifted to his torso. "Why is my chest cut open?!"

"Luciano, listen-" Kuro's words went unheard as Luciano's breathing sped up, breath coming in short, sharp bursts at the realisation of what was happening. His eyes snapped to his two allies, who could only stare at him in shock.

"Luciano-"

"What the fuck? What the _fuck_? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS DO TO ME?!"

Luciano moved as if to get up, but Kuro was faster, pinning him back down as Luciano began to thrash. "Let me go! Let go of me, you sick bastard! Get the fuck off!"

"Lutz!" Kuro snapped. "For fucks sake, don't just sit there! Do something!"

Lutz scrambled to obey, crawling over to pin down Luciano's legs. His eyes were brimming with tears. "Luciano, calm down-"

"Calm down? Calm _down_? I've got a huge fucking hole in my chest and you want me to CALM DOWN?!"

"Luciano, please, just listen-"

Luciano had no intention of listening. He squirmed and yelled and cursed at them, trying to free himself from their hold. No matter how much they tried to quieten him, he wouldn't stop screaming and fighting.

"Lutz! Keep him down!" Kuro commanded. Lutz didn't protest, taking Luciano's two wrists in his hand and forcing them to the ground. He was directly above Luciano's still gaping torso, his lungs now expanding and deflating rapidly and his heart beating furiously against his ribcage. The bleeding increased, the stench of gore assaulting him, and Lutz forced himself to not gag.

Kuro pulled out a small syringe and held Luciano's head still, jamming the tip into his neck and injecting the liquid into his bloodstream. It didn't take long for the drug to take effect, and Luciano's struggling finally calmed, lungs still heaving from his effort to break free.

"What... what did you do to me..."

"Kuro? What was that?"

Kuro ignored Luciano and turned to Lutz, who hesitantly let Luciano go. His limbs twitched, but he didn't start thrashing again.

"Xiao always carries around drugs. It wasn't difficult for me to take a few sedatives from him in case of emergencies." Kuro explained, more so to Lutz than to Luciano. "This will be easier if Luciano isn't fighting against us."

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not right here." Luciano spat. He made an attempt to kick Lutz, but his limbs were heavy and his legs wouldn't cooperate.

"Luciano, listen." Kuro turned his attention to his leader. "We didn't have a choice, okay? There was no food left, and-"

"So you decided to turn on me?" Luciano hissed. "You figured you'd find a way to eat me without me noticing? How fucking stupid do you think I am?"

"We didn't know what else to do." Lutz explained. He still had tears in his eyes, threatening to roll down his cheeks. "There was nothing left and the Allies could attack soon, so Kuro thought the only way to get through it would be to eat you since we do most of the fighting anyway-"

"And get your asses kicked in under a minute and leave me behind to do all the work, like fucking always!" Luciano snapped. "It didn't even occur to you to try and go for one of the Allies first?"

Lutz flinched. "You weren't supposed to find out."

"And that makes everything better, does it? Knowing that you were planning on stabbing me in the fucking back and leaving me thinking I could trust you?"

"Luciano, please try to understand-"

"No! Fuck that! Why the fuck should I listen to someone who sliced my fucking chest open?"

"Everyone shut up!" Kuro snapped. He glanced apologetically at his leader. "Luciano, I'm so sorry. But it's too late to turn back now."

Luciano's struggling started up again, albeit much weaker now that he had to fight against the sedative as well. "No it isn't! Let me go, damn it! You've done enough fucking damage!"

Kuro ignored him. Doing his best to tune out the Italian, he reached into Luciano's chest and pulled out the smaller intestine.

Luciano let out a scream of agony, but he bit down sharply on his lip to cut himself off, doing his best to force down any signs of weakness as Kuro set the intestine down onto his cape. Lutz took his hand but Luciano yanked it away, letting it fall back onto the sand. Lutz didn't try again, only watched him with pitying eyes as he tried to breathe through the pain.

"It'll be over soon." Lutz tried to assure him, although they both knew he was lying. "Just hold on a little longer."

Luciano turned his head away. He didn't want Lutz's comfort.

Kuro went back into Luciano's chest, this time pulling out his spleen. Luciano let out a small, uncontrollable sob and clenched his jaw. It got worse when the organ didn't come out easily, and Kuro was forced to sever the connecting strand with his sword. Luciano gave a pained whimper, nails digging into his palm so hard he thought he'd draw blood as he tried to avoid looking at what Kuro was doing to him, instinctively twisting away when Kuro reached his hand out again. He had to fight to repress the urge to curl up in a pitiful attempt to protect himself; moving into such a defensive position wouldn't do him any good now...

Moving.

He could move again.

With a sharp gasp he kicked out at Kuro, scrambling backwards the moment he recoiled from the hit. The pain in his chest increased the more he moved, but he couldn't bring himself to care. All he knew was he had to get away.

"Lutz!"

"No!" Luciano kicked at Lutz when he came close, but he wasn't as easy to drive off as Kuro. Luciano fumbled for a knife and, upon finding none, aimed another kick at Lutz, catching him directly between his legs. Lutz wheezed and collapsed onto his knees, groaning in pain and giving Luciano just enough time to try and force himself up.

He didn't get very far. Kuro latched onto his legs, letting him fall backwards, and pulled him back towards the fire, keeping a firm grip so that he wouldn't get kicked again. Lutz crawled over to them, still wincing, and held Luciano still again as Kuro injected him with more sedatives. Even as the drug took effect, Luciano refused to give up on his attempt to get away.

"Luciano, for fucks sake, stop it." Kuro whispered sharply to him. "Stop fighting. Please, for once in your fucking life, just stop fighting. It'll be over sooner if you do."

"Like _hell_ I'm going to give up." Luciano hissed. "I'm not going to willingly lie back and let you tear my body apart!"

"Then we'll force you to lie back!" Kuro snapped. "Even if we did let you go, you'd just bleed out. It's too late to stop now."

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place!" Luciano tried to move away from Kuro, but his limbs were heavy again. "Rather bleed out somewhere away from you two than let you continue to do what you fucking want with me!"

"Fine. Bleed out then. See how far that gets you." Kuro growled. "I'm sure the Allies will have a field day with seeing your corpse. We're not letting you go. We might as well take what's left now that we've started."

Luciano growled in frustration but didn't bother to reply, the threat of the Allies finding him in a weak moment causing him to reluctantly lie still for Kuro to continue. There wasn't much he could do while sedated. He'd have to wait for the drug to wear off again.

This time Kuro pulled out his liver, and Luciano had to bite back another scream of pain. A strangled sound escaped him, although he tried to repress it, and it was enough to make Lutz try and take his hand again. Luciano pulled away, body tensing at the seemingly endless agony originating from his torso.

"Alright, Luciano?" Lutz asked quietly.

"Do I fucking look alright?"

Lutz hesitated. "Look, I know this seems bad now but... I promise that after all this is over, we'll do whatever you want." He ignored Kuro's look. "Any dirty jobs you have lying around, anything you need to get your hands on, we'll even do your paperwork for you and help stop Flavio from trying to persuade you to go shopping with him. Anything you want."

Luciano refused to look at him, and Lutz bit his lip. "Luciano, please. I'm sorry. I didn't want this. I promise, I'll do whatever you want when you wake up. I'll - I'll even run as many laps as you want me to run, and I promise I won't complain once. Whatever you want, I'll do it. I'll make this up to you if you let me."

Luciano was quiet for a long moment, and Lutz thought he wasn't going to get a reply. Then...

"I hope my men set up in your countries make you fucking _beg_ for death."

Lutz felt his heart shatter, not just at the threat or the blatant refusal to forgive them, but also at Luciano's roundabout way of begging for his life.

Luciano didn't beg for anything.

He was still refusing to look at Lutz. Luciano turned his head to the side but then Kuro was in his line of sight, pulling out his second kidney. His nose scrunched up at the smell, but with no stomach he couldn't throw up. He turned his gaze back up to the sky, forcing himself to focus solely on his breathing. Several times he thought Kuro was actually removing his heart, but every time he looked it remained untouched, still beating and causing more blood to ooze out.

He refused to acknowledge that it was fear that was making his heart clench. Luciano Vargas didn't get scared.

"It'll be over soon." Lutz assured him again, and Luciano wanted to scoff. It wouldn't be over until he lost too much blood, until his body finally couldn't cope with so much damage. This was the only situation where he would curse his nation healing; he shouldn't have survived this long. And yet his regeneration was desperately trying to fix it, was working as quickly as possible to replace everything he'd lost even though it was still too slow.

Would his regeneration really be able to fix this? He knew his nation healing could grow new tissues and create new cells faster than a human and could even fix nerve damage, but could it regrow organs? Normally during regeneration, whatever had killed them had to be removed. Bullet in the brain? Need to remove that or he'd die before he even came back to life. Fatal stab wound? Need to fix the damage done there before he could come back. Snapped neck? His head needed to be positioned so that the new cells could properly grow in the correct places. If the damage wasn't fixed, he'd die again.

Luciano didn't know if his body was capable of bringing him back this time. Logically, it should - his nation was still thriving, his economy stable, his people healthy. But no nation had ever survived something this serious - at least, no nation he had ever heard about. And he wasn't the only personification of Italy. What would happen to his half of the country if he never came back? What would happen if even his regeneration couldn't fix this damage?

... what if he died permanently?

It was rare, sure, but not unheard of. The ancient nations, after all, had died, and they'd been powerful. If even the great Roman Empire could fall, who's to say Luciano couldn't die as well?

And what would happen if he did? Would Flavio gain control over his half of the country? Would his people be okay?

... would he see his grandfather and Holy Rome again?

"NO!"

The sudden shriek startled both Lutz and Kuro as Luciano began to thrash and kick and fight more violently than before. He couldn't die. He just couldn't. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing Holy Rome again, wouldn't be able to handle his grandfather's disappointment for being so weak. He needed to get away, he needed to stop the bleeding, he needed-

"Luciano!" Lutz and Kuro pinned him down again, Kuro fumbling for more sedatives, but adrenaline kept Luciano fighting, his breathing becoming erratic and his heartbeat uneven. He wasn't going down without a fight. He refused.

"GET OFF! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME! FOR FUCKS SAKE, STOP IT! GET OFF! LET ME GO!"

Finally Kuro managed to pull out another small syringe, and plunged it into his neck for the third time that night. Luciano felt him injecting the drug into his bloodstream. "No!"

With his heart beating as fast as it was, there was no way to delay the effects of the sedative. His body relaxed without his consent, not listening to his commands to move, get up, get away, go _anywhere_ so long as it wasn't _here_.

"I'm really sorry, Luciano." For the first time, Luciano actually saw regret in Kuro's eyes. "I didn't want to do this. But we can't starve. We need to do this. You'll wake up soon."

No. No no no no no. He couldn't take that risk. He needed to get away, and he would have managed it by now if his body would just _listen_ to him.

"We'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

"I don't want you here." Luciano choked out. He was trembling, the cold night air contrasting harshly with the warm blood that was soaking his chest, and the water from the ocean only made things worse. He didn't want this to happen.

"It's not long now, Luciano." Lutz whispered. He had, at some point, started crying, and the tears were still flowing, fat drops of water rolling down his cheeks. "Kuro's nearly done. It's nearly over."

He didn't want to die.

Luciano wasn't aware of what Kuro was doing anymore. He didn't want to look, didn't want to watch himself be pulled apart, and the stench of his organs made him want to gag.

He wanted it to be over, but he didn't want to die.

"Luciano, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Lutz let out a small sob, and Luciano wanted to laugh. What right did Lutz have to cry?

"If you were really that sorry, you'd stop." He couldn't speak loudly anymore. His throat hurt from all his screaming and from drowning earlier, and he was half convinced he could taste his own blood. What else could the coppery taste in his mouth be?

Luciano didn't even know how long he'd been there. The last few minutes were blurring together in a mix of pain and colours, and he didn't want to try and separate them.

"Nearly done, Luci, just hang in there."

He was getting tired. He couldn't even find the strength to scold Lutz for the nickname. And it hurt to breathe. Was Kuro finally removing his lungs, or his heart? Why hadn't either of them done that earlier, and put him out of his misery?

"Just keep breathing, Luci."

He wanted to, but at the same time, he didn't. He wanted to stay alive, but he was in too much pain. He just wanted it all to stop.

Why wasn't he screaming for help? Why couldn't he bring himself to even say that one word?

 _"You can't show weakness, Luciano. If you show someone your weaknesses, it will be your downfall."_

That... that was his grandfather's voice. Something he had been told when he was young and the Roman Empire was still powerful. Was it just a memory? Was it actually his grandfather? Was he really that close to death?

He didn't want to go.

Tired. He was so tired. And in so much pain.

Luciano's eyes flicked to the night sky. He didn't dare look left or right; his so called allies were on either side. The only place he could look was up. He didn't know if the sedative was still in his system, but it didn't matter now. He didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

Were those black dots in his vision, or had the sky always been that dark?

Pain. So much of it. But a part of his mind was still scrambling to keep what little dignity he had left. Part of him still refused to let the other two nations see him like this, with the life fading from his eyes. Luciano gathered what little strength he had to slowly close his eyes.

"No! Don't sleep yet, Luciano. You can't sleep yet. We're nearly done, just stay awake a little longer."

Why? He didn't want to. He didn't want to be in pain anymore.

"Luciano? LUCIANO! LUCIANO, PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Tired, so tired...

Breathe in.

Pain.

Breathe out.

Pain.

Why did it hurt so much to breathe?

"Luciano! Luciano, please answer me."

Luciano stopped breathing, just for a moment. Just to see which would hurt less.

"LUCIANO!"

He couldn't tell. He was already in too much pain to tell the difference. But not breathing required less energy.

"Luciano, please. Please breathe."

Was that Lutz, making that sobbing sound? It wouldn't surprise him. Lutz had always been more prone to crying in comparison to the other nations he knew.

Was it raining? Or were those tears? Luciano made a sound of discomfort as the drops of water continued to fall on him.

"Luciano! Come on, Luci, just hang in there a little longer. It's nearly over."

It would be over sooner if he could sleep...

"Luci, please. Stay alive. I'm _sorry._ Just stay alive, and I'll never ask you for anything ever again. I'm not asking much, I'm just asking you to breathe."

His mouth was dry. Really, really dry. He didn't know how he found the strength to open it, and maybe they thought he was going to say that it was okay, or that he'd forgive them, or that he wanted them to stay with him after all-

"G-go to Hell."

He felt someone take his hand, but he was too tired to pull it away. Everything hurt, but there was darkness nearby... nothing would hurt in the darkness...

"Luciano, please!"

More tears, and Luciano wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. He wanted everything to stop.

He wanted to sleep.

"Lu... an... lease..."

Everything was fading, slipping away from him - or he away from it - and for once, he didn't fight it.

"...cia.. o... ple... don... eep..."

Darkness, so quiet, so peaceful, so numb...

"Lu... no!"

Luciano let the darkness take him.

 **Headcanon: Xiao (2p China) carries around different drugs, and Kuro has a habit of taking some of those drugs when he's not looking**

 **Headcanon: The 2ps only had one world war, which was our second world war. This fanfic is not set during that time**

 **"But if they aren't at war, what are they doing on the island?" I hear you say. Well... I have no explanation. As I said, this was purely self indulgent and I eventually (aka two days after writing it) decided to upload it after a few minor tweaks.**

 **Please leave a review, I love hearing feedback from my readers! Hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
